This is not a running race report so if you are easily offended, please avert your eyes.
My brother-in-law, Conor signed me up for Quest Glendalough as a Christmas ‘present.’ Quest is a series of multisport or adventure races run across the country. The races tend to be a mixture of hill running, hilly cycling and kayaking. I think the organisers would prefer if the kayaking sections were hilly too but thankfully gravity gets a say in the course too. The Glendalough race is 59 km long, split into sections of 6km (cycle), 6km (run), 13km (cycle), 5km (run), 18km (cycle), 6km (run), 1km (kayak) and a final 4km run. The mathematicians amongst you may note that this only adds up to 59km, but they somehow managed to sneak in an extra 1km along the way.
My plan was to coast the cycling sections and let my running background do all the hard work in the race but alas, a series of illnesses including Covid, and various niggles in early 2022 left me overly fresh and under trained. No matter I told myself, confident in my ability to tough it out. However, worrying reports of serious road work being done by Conor all over his home county of Laois planted the seed of doubt.
Beautiful weather the weekend before set expectations too high and the Saturday morning of the race was cold and drizzly as we set off on the bikes at 8.15 from Laragh GAA Club. The cold day didn’t dampen the mood and there was plenty of friendly chat flowing amongst competitors as we made our way up the steep Shay Elliot climb between Glendalough and Glenmalure. Once we reached the top, it was off the bikes and on to a beautiful 6km trail run to the top of Cullentragh Mountain. Having started at the back of the second wave, I had passed a good few on the cycle and managed to pick a few more off on the way back down the hill to the bikes.
Once back out on the bikes, we headed steeply downhill towards Glenmalure but, most unfairly, the 800 metres downhill before Glenmalure Cross had to be run alongside your bike for safety reasons. Having worked hard to get up the hill, being denied the sweet pleasure of a downhill section was hard to take, especially as the next section was another long pull up Slieve Maan. On this climb, cycling muscles not worked since September 2021 screamed all the way to the top. This time though, the descent was glorious. Nose down under the handlebars and level with my knees, my Garmin told me I hit a top speed of 65kmph. This is a fine way to travel!
But as we all know, downhill sections are dearly bought, and I was soon in the hurt zone again finishing the second cycle uphill to the bottom of Croaghnamoira Mountain where we had a date with the second run of the day. Lactic acid, fatigue and a steep incline conspired to relegate this run to a trudge as we ascended a brutal 250m in 1.5km. The route to the top was dead straight leaving no room for mind games or tricks to allow you mentally break the climb into manageable chunks.
Below is an image of Conor and I taking a breather before starting the climb up Croaghnamoira.
Once at the top, the downhill section allowed me to shake some of the fatigue out of my legs and I picked off a few of the hardy souls who had passed me on the way up. Back to my bike again and I set off on the final cycle at a good clip. This was an undulating section passing through lovely scenery which was a pleasant distraction from my still-protesting thigh muscles.
In the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, all roads lead to Laragh, and I soon rolled back into to the GAA Club to take on the last hill run which zig-zagged up the lower slopes of Derrybawn Mountain before dropping back to the valley floor at the upper lake for the kayak section. You take your chances here in your shipmate and, luckily, I teamed up with a chatty and useful paddler. This made for a most enjoyable paddle in the sunshine through the dark waters of the lough under St Kevin’s Bed. After the race I spoke to a man whose kayak was the only one to capsize into the freezing waters so it could definitely have gone a different way for us!
Once out of the kayak, we had a short 4km run along the Green Road back to the finish. This was mostly flat and uneventful with lots of walkers shouting encouragement. Back at the GAA Club, there was one final sting in the tail as we were sent on a lap around the pitch before the final dash to the line. All in all, a great day out!
I didn’t see any other Sportsworld Athletes so the only time to report is my own in a 4.41.30, a mere heartbeat behind the winner Shaun Stewart (3.12.31 and 93 places above me). Modesty dictates that I cannot disclose whether Conor beat me home or not.
Race reporter Will on less competitive day when he had time to take photos.
Another race, another race report – this time it’s the turn of the 2022 Generali Berlin Half Marathon.
I love Berlin and have long been fascinated by its character, history, architecture, people and diversity. When I started running, I wanted something to aim towards and knew completing a half marathon in the German capital would be a special experience. I signed up for it last September, just a few weeks after joining Sportsworld in fact. When registering you provide your estimated finish time and I would be starting in Wave 4, Block F, at 11:10 a.m., a group suitable for people who had never ran a half marathon previously or had done one in 2 hours 14 minutes or more. The block would set off a full hour and 5 minutes after the start gun. I’d just done the 10km Mini Marathon in 58 minutes and this seemed like a suitable wave for me.
My running has come on a bit since September, and I wanted to change wave to start with runners at a similar pace to me to make me push to run faster. I emailed but heard nothing back. Maybe I’d just have to go along with where I was. Then I did parkrun in Berlin the day before the race and was shocked at how cold it was. My hands were numb even after running the 5k. There was no way I wanted to hang around in those temperatures for over an hour after the first runners had set off. I could also feel pre-race nerves setting in and wanted to start as early as possible. Luckily, at the Expo they accepted my 01:43 time from Mullingar and moved me to Wave 1, Block C, meaning my start time was 10.05am with all 3 blocks in Wave 1.
With that pre-race concern sorted, I was ready for race day. As I set out, the scale of the event hit me, there were runners and inline skaters everywhere! I had overheard someone say there would be 35,000 participants, I’m not sure how true that was, just over 22,000 runners finished and there also seemed to be hundreds of inline skaters speeding around. Everything was well organised, with runners entering the event area by the Reichstag, and lots of information to make sure we all found our way to the correct place. As we waited light snow began to fall, but nervous energy kept me warm. The speeches began and the elite runners were introduced. I was just in awe at their times, these people run faster than I can cycle! During the speeches I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed. One of the speakers talked about how we all had different journeys there and had set our own goals and we would all be winners at the end. I thought back to exactly a year ago when I finished week 5 of the Couch to 5k programme and ran for 20 minutes nonstop for the first time in my life – I think I managed about 2km in that time then. I nearly had to pinch myself to believe I was about to run 13 miles along the streets of Berlin now. Luckily before I had chance to get too overwhelmed, we were off. I pulled myself together to focus on the job at hand.
I had a vague plan I would go out with a 4.45min/km pace and try to hold it. The race starts on Straβe des 17 Juni, just west of the Brandenburg Gate, and runners first head towards the western area of the city, passing the Siegessäule, on towards Ernst-Reuter-Platz, then northwards towards Charlottenburg Palace. It was clear early my race plan wasn’t going to work – the start of the race was so congested, I found myself stuck behind rows of people. I knew I needed to follow the green lines to ensure I ran the exact half marathon distance, but it was impossible, I had to go wide to get by crowds. Somewhere along the way though things did open up though and I managed to pick up my pace.
We reached the western Charlottenburg area and Charlottenburg Palace, turned south and headed towards Kurfürstendamm (Ku’damm), the main shopping area in west Berlin and home of KaDeWe, Germany’s equivalent of Brown Thomas, as well as the Gedächtniskirche. At some point, before Ku’damm, we went over a cobbled area. I had to slow down there but can honestly say it was the only bit of the course that was any bit difficult, it’s really a nice flat route overall.
Disaster struck on the next part of the route – I noticed my lace was undone. As I stopped to tie it I wondered what impact it would have on my time, I just put it out of my mind and got back running, heading on towards Potsdamer Platz, an area that went from being a bustling central part of the city, to being almost completely destroyed during World War II, to then becoming part of the no man’s land between east and west in the DDR time as it was divided by the Berlin Wall. Post reunification it became the biggest building site in Europe, and then the modern intersection it is today. We were about 15km in at Potsdamer Platz and I noticed I’d slowed a bit. Then with horror I realised I’d forgotten about the green line and was running wide. I tried to move nearer as we weaved around Mitte, passing Checkpoint Charlie, on towards the Museum Island and the Berlin Cathedral. We seemed to take turn after turn, and then it happened, we arrived onto the wide Unter den Linden boulevard and finally the Brandenburg Gate came into sight!
Back on the green line and the race to the finish line
The last few hundred metres were amazing; it was a brilliant feeling passing the Brandenburg Gate. The support was incredible. In fact, the spectators throughout were brilliant, hundreds of people cheering. I don’t remember a single place where there were not lines of people. The party atmosphere ramped up further at the end and there were massive cheers as we crossed the finish line. There were smiling faces everywhere as we received medals and refreshments, and then a logo poncho, not my usual style, but given the temperature it was very welcome!
The men’s race was won by Alex Kibet of Kenya in an incredible 58.55. The women’s race by Sheila Chepkirui Kiprotich, also of Kenya, who had promised she would set a new course record and did just that, finishing in a jaw dropping 01:05:02. They were both long gone and hopefully well into their recovery by the time I eventually crossed the finish line in 01:41:23. I was delighted with that time, especially as I’d managed to add 370m to the route and stopped to tie my lace. I was shocked to also see I was within the top 10% of women finishers. I couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day!
The half marathon is a super way to get a sense of the size and layout of Berlin. I’d been to a lot of the places on the route before, but always using public transport and had no idea where places were distance wise relative to each other until taking part. Berlin is a super city; my weekend there went much too quickly. I spent Sunday afternoon doing some sightseeing and then it was home on Monday morning. I can’t wait to go back and hope this is just the first of many races I’ll take part in there, I’m already thinking of next year – I’ll be aiming to get under the 01:40:00 for sure.
The Leinster Indoor Senior Championships took place in Athlone Institute of Technology on March 25th. This was a welcome return for the championships, which were not possible in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, since the 2020 edition which was held in the National Sports Campus. I Competed in the 3000m both this year and in 2020.
This was my second time running in AIT: the first time being in January 2017 when I competed in a 1500m there. The facilities at AIT are fantastic – as well as the great track there is a dedicated warm up area for strides etc. upstairs, overlooking the track. There was a good crowd of spectators for the busy day of field and track events from the 60m up to the 3000m.
A brief look at the start list, in advance, told me that I would be out of my depth vis-à-vis a number of athletes in the race but there was a few I was confident of beating/close to eg. Michael Comer from Celbridge – In the 2020 race I ran 10:06 with him close by in 10:09.
Anyway I have been running well recently, having 4:50 for the mile in the recent NIA Live meet, and I was aiming for circa 9:45 – this equated to 39 secs average for the 15 laps. It is a lot of laps and I prefer not to wear a watch when running in circles on a track so I decided just to have a glance on the timer, when going past the start line. The race started at a strong pace, and having left the superior athletes to do their thing, I initially stayed with Micheal Comer, and another athlete from St. Senans in the hope of having some company for at least part of the race. However looking at the timer, after 2 laps, showed me that I was going too slow for my above target so I took the decision to leave the other two and just focus on my pace per lap. So I ended up running most of the race myself save lapping a couple of athletes as well as being lapped myself – I was only lapped once by the best athletes: The race was won in a speedy 8:39 by Rathfarnham’s David Scanlon who has been a consistent top 10 performer in the Dublin Senior XC over the years.
I managed to run a consistent pace and just about went under my target time by finishing in 9:44 – a 22 second improvement on this race 2 years ago.
As you know I have been working from home in Tipperary since Covid and I am still based there for the time being and train with some local athletes primarily on the track in Moyne. So given my current circumstances I have made the difficult to transfer from Sportsworld to my local club Moycarkey Coolcroo AC effective 1st April.
I have been with Sportsworld since the start of 2014, shortly after moving to Dublin, and I initially just intended to train for the 2014 Dublin marathon and then go back playing soccer which was my main sport at the time. But I enjoyed being part of the club so much athletics became my main sport and I have competed with the club in road, track, XC as well as going to the club trip to Lanzarote twice in 2016 and 2018. Special thanks to Emily and Myles for their help and guidance – they are also great at organising teams for XC races etc. all over the country and I enjoyed competing with Sportsworld the last few years in these races even though I haven’t been at training. Without sounding like a drawn out Oscars speech I’d also like to mention Michael Cunningham and Paul Duffy who do so much for the club. I have made so many great friends in the club and I hope we can keep in touch. If I move back to Dublin, part/full-time I will definitely re-join Sportsworld. In the meantime I’m sure I’ll see some of you at races and other events. Thanks again, Conor
I went to Warsaw, for a glorious six days. I ran the Warsaw Half Marathon with two Polish friends.
The weather was sunny but cold. The atmosphere and race organisation were great. The Half had been renamed as the Peace Half, post the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Poland’s support for Ukraine was evident everywhere you looked. The Blue and Yellow highly visible… on buses; trams; bridges over the Vistula; apartments; shops; statues. The Spartan Army (Charity for Children) ran the Half as a phalanx, with the Ukrainian flags on their spears. Refugees have free access to transport; museums; galleries etc. Sporting Arenas and Stadiums across the City are being used to help shelter / feed / inform refugees. My friend was hosting two refugees at her house. Train stations were remarkably busy.
I flew into Warsaw Modlin airport via Ryanair on the Saturday. I was picked up from the airport (35 mins drive to Warsaw). My friend had collected the race number… 2000, for me 😊 at the Expo. I sampled wonderful Polish hospitality that night, before finding my apartment sometime after midnight. I was delighted with my modern Studio apartment at €60/night.
I set off at 07:00 the next morning for the 6k journey to the start. Buses etc were free for all race participants. I hopped on a bus and then walked the last 2k by way of exploration of the beautiful Old town. I had a pre-race coffee, with friend, in a wonderful little coffee bar. The cake /bakery selection in Warsaw is great… and soo cheap.
The race started at 9. There were about 10,000 of us sandwiched (in a spacious manner), between the banks of the River Vistula and the beautiful Old Town. Then sun was out, but it was very cold. There is a great sense of space in Warsaw. I did not see many cars. Many roads are like Parisian style avenues; there are many pedestrian areas; there are beautiful Old Italian-like squares.
The course is flat and gives a good overview of the more modern parts of the city, as it criss-crosses the Vistula. The banks of the River Vistula are worth exploring, if one has the time… trails and beaches on one side; cafes and museums on the other. It makes a lovely 10k run up one side of the Vistula, and back down the other. We passed the Citadel; the national football stadium; many parks etc. The day got hotter as we progressed, and my light jacket, gloves and hat were soon discarded.
Support was good and there were bands playing along the route. Water, Isotonic drinks and bananas were readily available. I ran with my friends and had some ‘race-speed’ in reserve. This allowed me to absorb the atmosphere and look around… which I thoroughly enjoyed. We crossed the line in 2:06:48. The winning time was an amazing 01:00:30 for the Men, and 01:08:55 for the Women.
Nice medal and great technical t-shirt at the finish… along with some pasta-laden soup.
Warsaw has an excellent network of bike lanes, separated from cars. I used the Veturilo city bikes app. Nice and cheap to use. Over 200 bike locations across Warsaw. I explored by bike and foot, a large area of Warsaw and it’s suburbs. I also got an insight into how some of the locals lived via 3 different households and homes. I loved the many suburban bakeries and cheap lunches. In town, the Milk Bars are seriously amazing value for traditional, basic food. Prices in general are 50-67% of Dublin prices. English is fairly widely spoken. There are good view from the Stalin gift ‘Palace of Culture’ building (€5).
I will happily return. I enjoyed the mix of old and new; space and high-rise blocks; the people and hospitality. I still have the museums and galleries etc to explore. I’d recommend the Warsaw marathon / half-marathon. An enjoyable, well organised, fast course, and a city with plenty to do. Some of you are familiar with the Wicklow Ecotrail. Ecotrail comes to Warsaw in September. I have it on good authority that the routes (especially the longer ones) are fab. I am seriously considering this 😊.
I hadn’t planned on running a half marathon in Mullingar on St. Patricks Day. I had intended on running the Bohermeen half the previous weekend, but fate had other ideas when I ended up unwell the week before and after not eating for two days, decided running a half might not be the smartest thing to do, so gave it a miss.
Despite a good session at training on the Thursday, I felt off all that week and even missed my weekend run. I’m planning on running the Berlin half in April and was worried that might be at risk also. Fortunately, I recovered by last Monday and headed out early before work, managing 16km and restoring my confidence that I could still run! Had I known I’d be running in Mullingar on Thursday I might not have done that, but my plan had been to head to Waterford to family for the long weekend. Fate intervened again though as my parents were struck down with Covid (they are fine now) which meant we couldn’t visit them.
What would we do for the long weekend now? A bit of research later and I saw there was a half marathon still open for registrations in Mullingar on St. Patricks Day. I quickly signed up for it and on Thursday morning we set off bright and early for the AON Mullingar Half Marathon and a midlands adventure!
I’m not sure I’d ever been to Mullingar before. On arrival I was struck by what a handsome town it was. It was also a lovely morning, with bright sun and a great buzz around with the race starting right in the town centre. I collected my race number, did a little warm up and headed to the start line. I had notions of running with a pacer. I saw the 1 hour 30 minutes and 1 hour 40 minutes balloons but discounted them as too fast for me. I was kind of thinking I’d aim for 1 hour 50, but couldn’t see a pacer for that time, so just decided to go at my own pace and see how I felt.
Off we went, right on time at 10am, I didn’t look at my watch, just ran. We turned left at the top of the town, heading out towards countryside, initially on main roads and then around 3km in we turned off and onto country roads and then boreens. I don’t know any areas around Mullingar so can’t say where we were, but it was a very pretty area to run in and the spring heat and sun felt great. I finally looked at my watch around 8km in and realised I was going at a decent pace for me and that if I kept it up, I would be under 1 hr 45 minutes. I decided to make that my goal then.
The route for those that do know Mullingar
Around 11km in I was running behind a small group and felt like there was no one behind me…I wondered if this race was full of fast people and if I was last. I looked around, lost my footing and nearly went flying. From the gasps behind as people saw me stumble, I knew I wasn’t last and got back on track! That will teach me to always look ahead in future and not worry about what’s behind me!
Just over 12km into the race there was a serious test, a steep climb up a flyover. It was hard work and my pace never recovered from it, slowing to around 5 minutes per kilometre, I think partly because I knew that was all I needed to make the 1 hour 45 minutes. We seemed to be running back towards the town then, eventually coming to the Royal Canal. Again, lovely scenery, but due to a combination of tired legs and the wind against us, I found the last 3km tough going. I also really felt like I was running out of fuel and my 6am muesli and banana seemed an awful long time ago. I have to admit, about 19km in I walked for a bit – no idea how long, could have been a minute, and only for a few runners coming past and encouraging me to keep at it and to run with them, that we were nearly there, I might have kept walking. I got energy from their support and picked up my pace again. Before I knew it, we were into the last 500m and the crowd was great for that last bit to get over the line.
The race was won by Stephen Conroy (1:10:38), 2nd was Mark McPaul (1:11:22) and 3rd was Timmy Murphy (1:11:47). The women’s race was won by Elizabeth Carr (1:19:56), 2nd was Amy Pollman Daamen (1:25:06) and 3rd was Miranda Spencer (1:28:23). All the results are available here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/aon_mullingar_half_marathon/4250/results
Overall, I would recommend the Aon Mullingar Half. While not completely flat, its pretty nice, a beautiful setting, and it’s one big loop. There was a great atmosphere in the finish area and all around the town, with music and entertainment for St. Patricks Day also.
I finished in 1:43:19, which is faster than I thought I was capable of and definitely helps my confidence for the Berlin Half next month – although I’ve made a bit of an error with my registration for that and been too conservative with my expected finish time, registering it as 2 hours so I’m in a late wave. Maybe that will be one to just enjoy and take in the sights!
Nerves were high as we all checked weather reports on Saturday evening. Questions of whether the rain would hold off, where would we park, and most importantly, where would we go for coffee and a scone when it was all over?
Sportsworlders hit the road to Bohermeen, Co. Meath on Sunday morning. The sun was shining and the grey clouds didn’t look too eerie. As we parked up in the grassy fields, there was lots of excitement as the countdown was finally on. At 11am, lots of smiling faces lined up waiting for the gun to sound and at 11.05, the fun began.
The conditions on the day made for an exciting event. No sign of rain until the race was over, the sun peeked through on occasion, and apart from the crosswinds on the motorway flyover, the force of the wind was kept to a minimum. The course itself was enjoyable, no steep inclines, all gradual, and just enough of a decline to catch your breath before the next slope. The Sportsworld gang was out in force and represented in style!
Paul Hamilton was the first Sportsworld man over the line in a time of 1:24:47 and Deirdre O’Connell was the first female Sportsworlder with a time of 1:31:03. Some incredible running across the board with all race times, according to My Run Results, listed below.
Bodies were tired but we made it the end. Bananas, oranges, and crisps were welcomed at the finish line, followed by a well-deserved cuppa, scone, and even some chocolate cake found along the way home (once everyone managed to get their cars towed out of the wet, mucky fields).
A huge congratulations to everyone that took part. It was by no means a small feat and the first big hurdle in the long distance running for the club this year. It was my first official half marathon and I cannot give enough credit to the support of the club, and all the running crew that got me through the long runs in Phoenix Park. You’re a motivational bunch!!
Having participated in the previous NIA meeting in February, very green, wearing my asics trainers which had been destroyed at the XC nationals in Cork & with no clue how to use the blocks I really felt I had unfinished business.
The warm up area in Abbotstown is a very interesting place and it gives someone of my lets say modicum of ability a chance to mix it with serious athletes. I really watched with interest Brian Gregan who has a time of 45.42 in the world champs warm up & how his coach was at pains to tell him “you can’t take it home with you” leave it all on the track in other words, a maxim I decided to adopt myself. Brian subsequently went on to be 2nd in his heat losing out by a couple 100th’s of a second not unlike myself as it happens (cough).
As Brian would probably tell you, the 400m is a tricky event. You can’t go hell for leather or you’ll burn out, go out too slow and you could lose touch & keeping it steady can be a struggle.
Drawn in the widest lane 6 also means you have no idea what’s happening in behind. Anyway I got a half decent start out of the blocks & was travelling at a clip hoping to be in the lead by the cut away which was how the race transpired but before the final bend I was almost out of gas & was passed by lactic Luis which he was dubbed by the commentator. Lactic Luis was in all sorts of trouble in the final straight as his legs nearly went from under him on 2 occasions I only copped this with about 30 metres to go & tried to rally but lactic Luis managed to fall over the line ahead of me by 4 100th’s of a second, D’oh.
I still came away with a new pb of 63.01 shaving 6 seconds off my previous attempt which I would have easily taken at the start. Spikes are the key folks.
There were 3 other Sportsworlders competing on the night, 2 of which entered the record books. Huge congratulations to Katie Nugent who was 3rd in the 800m also beating her sister, Siobhan, I might add in a time of 2.39.40 & Conor Keating who just keeps improving also finishing 3rd in the men’s mile in a serious time of 4.50.86. Declan Brady also ran a fine race in the men’s 800 & gained an indoor pb for himself. Declan also discovered the sensation of the now infamous indoor metallic burn.
It really was a night of records as Nick Griggs smashed the European indoor U20 mile record in a time of 3.56.40 almost catching Olympic semi finalist Andrew Coscoran. His coach went on to describe him as an aerobic animal, remind you of anyone (ahem).
Special thanks to Deirdre O’Connell who is auditioning for a role with the AAI as live track side reporter as the email group can attest.
It was Conor’s Day” …. NIA Live, 16th February 2022
Having to work in Blanchardstown has to have some advantages. I never found any until tonight, and my proximity to the National Indoor Arena, to participate in the second NIA indoor live series of the year, and my debut.
Myself and Ms Ginty had a great night with race director Dave Mathews down in a pub in Dingle years ago after the half marathon, and this sowed the seed for our attendance on a blustery, storm-force February night, about 5 years later.
I knew a few Sportsworlders were due to run, and indeed all five of us had also competed in the National Cross Country on Sunday. But two of us didn’t get the footwear memo and wore the same mucky, clunky road runners that were destroyed in the Castlelyons Glastonbury style tented village. It turns out, you wear spikes indoors. Doh’!
My event was up first, the 400m, and it was great fun. The race director insisted I use the traps/blocks to start, and reminded me a few times that I was using them wrong. ! Turns out not all tracks are 400m, and thankfully race director also told me it was two laps of this loop. Against all coaching advice, I ran out hard, then blew up. I finished third of three in my heat AND last in the entire event. A fine debut.
Adam Furlong was up next for his debut indoor 400m. Despite finishing third of three, he started well by making it out of the blocks at all! Though also last in this heat, when your warm-up includes strides with Olympian Mark English, the result never really matters.
Blazing Conor Cavanagh returned to the Arena having posted a club record on his debut appearance last month. Conor battled in the last 100m to win his heat in an incredible time of 2.07s. It’s a great watch on youtube, and we agreed with commentator Dave Mathews, “It was Conor’s day!’
Katie Nugent put in such an impressive effort in her 1500m to clock a time of 5.40s. Her sister Siobhan was there to cheer her on.
And last up, and indeed up from Tipperary for the challenge, Conor Keating sped home in 4.34s in his 1500m, coming second and securing a Sportsworld indoor track record. Well done Conor!
It was so lovely to meet Anne Sweeney and family in the grandstand, cheering on Carla, who was 2nd in the final heat of the women’s 800 with an incredible time of 2.07s. Eh, Anne, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree! Let’s race Conor C versus Carla next time!
In all, it was great to experience the National Arena, running on this impressive track with the buzz and energy of the NIA Live crowd.
Hopefully this infamous metallic throat burn will be gone in the morning!
Congratulations to Nice Griggs who set a a new Irish 1500m Junior record 💥⏱3:43:72
Beautiful and picturesque Castlelyons situated in the valley of the River Bride in Co Cork was the location for the 2022 Masters and Intermediate National Championships. This was an eagerly anticipated event after last years race was cancelled due to Covid.
The intro here is written by myself (spectator) Gareth Murran whilst we have a detailed first-hand report from Maria Jones who ran in the M35 race, finishing an impressive 12th.
From early morning all manner of vehicles could be seen making their way to the small hamlet, just north of the main city stronghold in the people’s republic.
Photo of Thomas Kinsella
Even the more seasoned club Masters runners have a love-hate affair with the Nationals because it usually involves months of hardship running up and down hills in Phoenix Park. Emily loves turning up the heat every week, till you think you can’t take it anymore.
Just when you think you are home and dry and the training is done, you realise that you have to get on a bus for 4 hours, stop in 3 Apple Greens (Not even a Plaza) on the way to a muddy field in Cork of all places.
The Catle
On long bus journeys, you might have to ask several people before you get someone interested in talking with you—that’s okay. Be okay with rejection, or seek it out. It’s all just practice, after all.
Keep track of what sports are played during which seasons—such as football, soccer, GAA, and golf—so you are on top of the current action. The Olympics are always a good option if they are taking place as everyone is sure to be buzzing about them. If your conversation partner supports a rival team, focus on trash-talking their favourites. The Cork-Tipperary rivalry is a good place to start and makes for lasting friendships.
After getting off the bus at these events the very first thing you’ll notice will be the big muddy field, looming thunderstorms and hills that make Carrantuohill look like a walk around your 2K local. As Milton Erickson wisely observed though, when you are in a garden you can appreciate the flowers or just focus on the weeds!
If you measure success by effort and doing your best, then it is always in your hands to succeed, and succeed we did on Sunday! We had many reasons to be proud of ourselves before the racing even got started in Castlelyons. Teams in every race, a good mix of old and new gullible runners, a great mix of guys and dolls, realistic medal hopes and great club support on the party bus.
XC is a flame you must hold close to your skin, to see how much pain you can stand before running to the water. The muddier the course the sooner those brows will be singed off. My rules of XC would be 1. Life is not fair. 2. The goalposts move. 3. There are no guarantees.
At Nationals the kids run first. Now they don’t weigh too much so the course stays in pretty good condition but the race preceding the Master’s Women is the Under 19 Men and this is where things start taking a muddy turn. To a degree the U19 and Masters lads get to destroy the course, leaving the Intermediates to do battle in the mud as dusk sets in, and everone wants to beat the traffic home. I’ll take your encouragement but wipe your feet at my door.
Masters Women
First up was the Master’s Women. The evergreen Noreen Brouder led out the Sportsworld challenge. Not far behind was Maria Jones who has been cross-training her way to XC success all year. The quality team included our finest runner in recent years Aoife O’Leary and running trivia obsessed Maura Ginty.
The women had to do two of the larger yellow laps with a field of 141. The course was relatively ok for the most part with just a few muddy patches. As battle go, this was the most exciting race of the day. With 4 runners so high up in the field the excitement was overwhelming at times. As the second lap was drawing to a close Noreen and Maria were both looking super strong and not far behind Maura and Aoife were pushing each other on.
Adding to the day was the return of Lucy Darcy and fine runs from Kimberley, Marie, Valerie and Aileen. This race was the highlight of the day with the team taking 3rd and our top 2 getting silver medals with Dublin. Noreen also scored second place in her age category, take a bow. My vote for athlete of the year.
Olympian Lizzie Lee enjoyed a titanic battle with her Leevale clubmate Sinead O’Connor. Lee would go on to take the narrow victory, adding yet another team title to Leevale’s collection in the process. Barbara Cleary of Donore Harriers was in contention throughout and would run on to claim a well-deserved 3 places finish overall.
Insert Maria Jones
Last race of the XC season, time to go out with a bang. The bus travelling from Bushy, picked me, the bould Elaine Kennedy and my mother dearest up in the Premier County en-route to Cork.
Time was ticking away waaaay too fast and we eventually pulled up in Castlelyons at 1.10 PM. A slightly panic-stricken Noreen and I scrambled for our bags and went tearing down the road in search of the field in which we would soon be running laps. Straight to the portaloos where we bumped into Ginty+Aoife, abandoned our bags randomly by a blue tent and off on our warmup and course inspection.
I was expecting the worst with all the forecasted rain the previous days but was pleasantly surprised with plenty of green grass in sight and a pretty flat course without too many bends and turns. (I can’t help using Clarrenbridge as the benchmark for all XC courses since 2018 so nothing can ever seem as bad as that).
Midway through our warm-up as we repeatedly said how lucky we were with the nice weather, the heavens opened, soaking us to the bone. Drenched to the skin we made our way back to our bags and located the Sportsworld tent, now standing tall close to the start line.
Numbers pinned, spikes on, strides did and toe to the line, we were ready to go. The gun sounded and we were off, everyone sprinting for a position. The race settled and we found our rhythm as we set off on 2big laps, the 4000m that lay ahead.
To be honest, the race passed in a blur for me, I just stuck my head down, tried to keep a good position and run my race. When the going started to get tough on lap 2 and you wonder have you got another gear, I heard Myles shout out that I needed to move up now, Noreen was battling for 3rd position, and I had to get ahead of the few girls in my sight if we had any hope of a team prize. This was all the motivation I needed to start picking off a few more people in the hopes of that team medal that we so badly wanted. One last push and I managed to get past 3 more girls in the muddy home straight. I could do no more.
Noreen had battled hard upfront, mixing it with some of the big guns on the women’s racing scene around the country. She showed her class throughout finishing in a magnificent 6th place. I followed in in 12th position.
Now the countback was on to see where we stood in the team rankings. We tried to count the scorers from rival teams as they were crossing the finish line. Meanwhile, Aoife and Maura were working hard together to enter the home straight. Aoife running on an almost empty tank of iron showed her mental strength, pure grit and determination to get around the course. Most people in her position would never even of toed the line, but her team dedication and sheer class shone through coming home in 32nd place just ahead of team captain Maura Ginty in 34th. Ginty ran her socks off as she always does in the red+white, giving everything for her love of the club and her desire for team success. She has been paramount in keeping us motivated and reminding us how great it is to be part of a Sportsworld team, making the long journey from her beloved Mayo to the hills on the Munich Lap for the past few weekends to ensure she was in top form.
Kimberly Kennedy finishing off her first cross country season with the club, put in another great display coming home as the 5th over 35s scorer in 93rd place. Two places ahead of her were Lucy, who ran a blinder, leading the over 50s home. One minute I saw her dressed in her working gear running the show for my run results, the next thing she’s sporting the club singlet ready to attack the course, what a woman.
Hot on her heels and with two dodgy knees was Marie Bradley putting in a great performance in her home county to finish 2nd scorer on the over 50s team.
Val Power was next in giving it her all as she always does, followed by Aileen Melody delighted cross country was done for another year, to complete the team.
We all headed back to the sports world tent, happy with our efforts but not too hopeful that a team prize was on the cards. As we were getting changed, dissecting our performances and what we could have done better, a text came through to Aoifes phone. WE GOT BRONZE!!!! Woohoo, screams+shouts and jumping around the tent like a scene from Semple Stadium on Munster final day. Job did, happy days!
We then had the pleasure of watching the rest of our clubmates race, as the course got muckier and muckier, all putting in great performances.
What I enjoyed about this cross country season is the team morale and comradery. That feeling of fighting for each other, and being part of more than just your result is very special. It’s been an honour to be part of such a great and encouraging group of ladies.
Shout out to Ann, Jean, Louise and a few others who were with us along the way to nationals but unfortunately were forced to drop out last minute due to injury or sickness. And poor Gareth who was on the sidelines cheering on unable to race after an unfortunate fall the day before while sightseeing in my beloved Tipperary.
Despite their missing members, the over 50s team placed 7th overall. Noreen also got individual silver for her age category. And both Noreen and I secured a place on the Dublin team which finished 2nd.
Tent dissembled, brownies eaten (thanks Michael) and back to the bus, we headed. Val produced a pack of rubbish bags for all our mucky shoes and we headed on the journey home. We had a pitstop for some grub and well earn refreshments just outside Fermoy. Thanks to Marie Bradley for organising.
Finally back to Dublin just before 10, a long day but just enough time for a few sneaky drinks in Bradys where Gavin entertained us with talk of beetroot shots, caffeine loading, and cycling under the influence, ill say no more!
Special thanks to Emily, (ever enthusiastic, encouraging and our most important ladies team member), Paul and Myles for all the training, encouragement and support.
Until next year……
A great reort but don’t put down that morning coffee just yet, Next up were the Master’s men. Karol was the man to watch in the M40 category and Bruce Campell has been in flying form the past few months.
Masters Men
As Maria mentioned the course was starting to look a bit soft but still very runnable, as myriads of Masters men charged out from the off. In XC you need to get a decent spot at the start and then steady the ship. If you overcook things in the first 500M the rest of the race will be painful. If you go too slow you can have 200 people to pass.
The men had 7K to run, which involved 3 large laps and one small. As the runners went by for the first time Karol was sitting in a great position near the top of the field. Everyone else in the red and white were sitting nicely and running well.
As the runners came around again two lads from East Cork had split the field wide open and the runners were very strung out. The speed of the breakaway resembled a track race, it was hugely impressive to observe. Running close to 3-minute kilometres on a relatively muddy course is no mean feat. The casual observer could see that this was a race of attrition. Each time the runners went past the increased effort was showing.
On the last lap Karol was holding on to a top 20 position, Paul was having another fantastic race, with Gavin having a strong run in the mud and not far behind. The team in 8th included Michael Cunningham who finished in 89th position overall. Bruce in the M50 had finished in between Michael and Gavin, another top-class run. Also havings good runs were Kevin, Anthony, Joe And Adam. Adam has improved a huge amount is a great addition to the team. Hope he wears his trademark cravat to the club night out in March.
Deserving of particular mention were Liam Lenehan and Paul O’Beirne who have both had excellent performances in Leinsters and Nationals.
The men’s division looked ultra-competitive on paper but Tim O’Donoghue (East Cork A.C.) didn’t read the script, powering away to take the men’s title in what was a seriously deep field. O’Donoghue finished over 20 seconds ahead of the ever consistent Sergiu Ciobanu (Clonliffe Harriers AC) who is sure to have felt his exploits at the ECCC Cross Country in Portugal last weekend.
In the penultimate race, we had the Intermediate women. The smallest of our fields on the day but including heavy hitters such as Deirdre O’Connell, Katie Nugent and Elaine Kennedy, all running really well of late.
This race went out fast. Lauren Tinkler, who was part of the Irish U23 team at the European Cross Country Championships last December, showed all of her big race experience to take and hold the lead for the entire race, gun to tape.
The surprise package for me in this 5K race was Aoife Carroll. Aoife ran a well-paced race and showed great potential as a relative novice. Similarly, Deirdre and Fiona had good well paced runs and worked through the field. Katie and Elaine did well to work together, both picking up places on a fast last lap. EK impressively ran an XC race, finishing 5th just the weekend before but was too modest to write a race report. Th team finished 6th overall, a good day.
Insert Aoife Carroll
February 13 th , the final race of the cross-country season and boy were we in for a treat (……NOT!!). Some thirty odd runners arrived to Bushy Park dressed in the Sportworld’s red and white. We then mounted the unintentionally matching red bus and set our sights on Castlelyons. The bus journey down was perhaps quieter than one would expect with everyone was trying to settle any nerves for the upcoming “battle” ahead.
We arrived in Castlelyons and I must admit, I regretted not bringing my wellies. The mud was up to our ankles as soon as we entered the gate and if the walkway was anything to go by, it was going to be a very slippery race. Nevertheless, we proudly pitched our Sportsworld marquee and got to warming up. The buzz at Castlelyons was something else, the nerves and excitement could be felt all around. Some of the best athletes from around the country had travelled down to compete, even Olympian Paul O’Donovan made an appearance despite there not being an oar in sight.
The Ladies Intermediate 5000m race was the second last race of the day and so the ground was nicely trampled for us. It was a daunting sight to see the mud puddles that lay ahead as we lined up on the start line. There were five ladies representing Sportsworld for the race. It was a spectacular race, with every step being carefully placed so as to not lose a spike in the troughs of mud. The race was gruelling, however, the Sportsworld women battled hard with Aoife Carroll bringing the team over the finish line with a time of 21:51. Soon followed Elaine Kennedy at 22:05, Katie Nugent at 22:09, Deirdre O’Connell at 22:17 and Fiona Cafferty at 23:21. Everyone put their all into the race and so massive congratulations is in order. A special shout out to Fiona for a great performance for
her first ever XC race.
A special thanks to everyone who came down and all the other runners who stood at the side-lines to cheer us on. The comradery and support was just fantastic and made the pain of cross country all worthwhile!!
Lastly, it was the Intermediate men. I’ve taken out the ages so as not to expose any Masters age runners. They love the extra mud and few kilometres, who wouldn’t!
These lads had it tough. By the time the race had started, the course was a mud bath and I was feeling lonely at the end of the course. What if I forget someone’s name and had to shout ‘Come On Sportsworld’ for 8K (4 laps)? Luckily Paul had made an executive decision to stick everyone with the name Conor into the Intermediates.
The most impressive men’s XC runner of the season has been Conor Keating. Conor runs up and down the straight roads of Thurles daily. It’s paying off as he has had a hugely impressive run and was flying from the start on Sunday. Hot on his heels was the talented Timothy and Messrs Cavanagh and McCarthy.
All of the lads had their battles throughout the race. They are each progressing and improving fitness by pushing hard in each race. Cheers to Conor Cavanagh who asked how I was doing on his last lap, whilst I roared ‘cmon buoy’ in my faux East Cork accent. As the only red and white runner under 30, he’s set to challenge some club records in years to come. A great hope!
As the race progressed a smaller field than the Masters meant that the race was very strung out after just a lap. Brian, John and Karl were keeping close order on each other and helped one another to complete the tough 8K course.
Evan Fitzgerald (Clonmel A.C.) produced a brilliant display to take the men’s intermediate title. The Clonmel athlete was afforded the luxury of enjoying his winning performance on the run-in, having built up an over 20-second lead over rivals Jamie Fallon (Craghwell A.C.) and Eoin Smyth (Tara A.C.) who claimed silver and bronze respectively.
Leevale took the club honours, led home by Gavin O’Rourke in 4th. The Cork club also called upon the services of Tokyo 2020 gold medalist, Paul O’Donovan, who crossed the line in 34th. Our lads finished 8th.
I had great craic watching the races and catching up with some old friends. Despite not making the party bus I hear a great time was had by all with birthday cake, beer and deep heat freely passed about . Thanks to Marie Bradley for sorting the grub and Emily for the transport.
For me, the cross country season is represented fully in the cover photo of the race report. When there are hills, thick mud, and driving rain to run through, you can’t hide away from any weaknesses you may have. It is the purest form of running, there is no glamour, no PB times to get, oh, and no toilet roll!
The saturday morning cognitive dissonance put aside for another year, it’s time to set some new goals. A few indoor track races, maybe the national 10K or the road relays? With the grand auld stretch taking hold, the cold wet nights are coming to an end. Ah, Sure It’ll Be Grand in the end.
Thanks for all of the support and advice this year from Emil, Paul and Myles.
Participants: Glenn Cahill (0:55:56); Tim Murphy, Race Reviewer (1:00:39); Eoin O’Brien, Photographer (1:02:23); Neil Purdy (1:04:38); Philip Kerr (1:05:18).
Race preparation – in the form of non-stop rain, started a full 16 hours before the civilised 11:00am race start the following Sunday morning. Thankfully, the rain cleared in time for the race start – and I spotted the ever-present and presentable Eoin; an ‘in the flesh’ version of Neil (thankfully, with more than his Budgie Smugglers on); and the Galant Glenn, who was to be our pacemaker for the day. Philip must have been doing his pre-race stretches somewhere. There was no sign of the ladies. Presumably, they had the smarts not to incur the wrath of Emily, Myles, and Paul by missing out on the XC Nationals in Cork. Karol won the last running of this race. He too, was quite rightly in Cork.
Anyway, the race starts (GAP – Glencullen Adventure Park) with a mad stampede (not unlike the cross country), before narrowing to a rocky technical, and steep climb up to Fairy Castle. Then comes the ‘boneshaker (in top form) down to the Ticknock aerial masts. Much of this was a rock-strewn river that we were running in. The day had really cleared up by now. And the views were awesome… but mind your step! Then came the spin towards the coast, and back up via Two Rock. This was a pure muckfest, that would make a Cross Country runner weep (not sure if tears of joy or pain). Finally, a fast – turning to super fast final 2k, on trail, then grass/path.
There was a packed sandwich and crisps for all at the end. The raffle brought Eoin multiple prizes too. Race of the day award also went to Eoin. Eoin completed his 13th IMRA race post Covid re-opening last June. This was his fastest race, relative to the winner’s time – whilst simultaneously taking photos. Philip has made it 3 races out of 3, for the Winter League this year. Neil has completed his usual annual quota of 1 IMRA race per year.
